Seal.



A. W. LOSHBUUGH.

SEAL.

APPLmATloN rlLnD AWM. 190s4 943,834, Patented Dec. 21, 1909.

Fig 9 d n 15 l@ mmf z `Fi g, 1 1 Q, mmm-f ANTHONY W'. LOBHBOUGH.

mm, 0F DETROIT,

0F DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOE T0 AUTOHATIC BELL MICHIGAN, CORPORATION 0F MICHIGAN.

SEAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 21, 1909.

Application Med August 4, 1909. Scrivi No. 611,219.

To all whom. 'it may concern:

Be it known that I An'riiosr W. Losuiioizoii, a citizen of time United States, residing at. Detroit, county of Wayne, State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Seals, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the saine, such as will enable others skilled in the art to winch it pertains to make and use the same, reference heilig had lo the accompanying drawius, which forni n part of this specitication.

ly invention relates to an improvement in seals for freight cars or other like purposes, shown in the accompanying drawiiiors and more particularly pointed out in tlie following specification and claims.

My invention has for its object the oo nstruction of a simple and olfactive seal, its engaging loop formed of n ribbon of metan.: the parts bei so constructed and arran that. the fact o the seal being actuallyl ed or not will be at once apparent Without the necessity of making more than a hasty exaniiniitioii.

Another object is to provide means for closing the opening into the locking portion of the seal, thereby protecting it :wainst any attempt to tamper with or unloc the device.

Another object is to provide a suitable locltin key which may be numbered or otherwise marked to correspond with a similar mark ou the locking loop -the purpose beingr to provide means whereby a check und record ina be kept upon the seals issued and the fact t at they have been actually put in commission. The construction being such that the kry cannot be removed fi'oin the looking device until actually locked, which operation automatically releases the key after which the key cannot he again inserted in the locking device. The i'liscngagcd key is then returned to the issuing oihce, thc uumbcr or other mark ou the key sei-ring to iiidicatc the 'fact that the seal of which it was at one time an integral part, has been actuull(y put into service.

)t er advantages and improvements will hereafter appear.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device as it would appear when tho free and of the locking loop is meerted in the barrel of tho seal and iu a position to bu locked. Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view through the barrel of the seal, showing the manner of sup orting the locking key before the free en of the locking strip is locked within the barrel. Fig. 3 is an end view of the barrel, showing in full lines the osition occu ied by thc key as indicated in ig. 2, and in dotted lines the position to which the key is turned to en ge the free end of the locking strip, in w ich ition it is automatically released iroin t e lock. Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view through the barrel showing the rotatable locking device in the osition it occupies before engaging the loc indg strip. Fig. 5 is a similar view showing e osition of the rotatable lockdevice w en enga with the locking strip. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section showing the strip, key, and parts of the barrel, separated to more clearly disclose their construction. F' 7 is an end and side e1evation of the loc ing device. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the locking strip shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 6. Fir'. 9 is a sectional view showing a modification of the locking strip. Fig. 10 is an edge elevation of the ockingstrip shown in Fig. 9. Fig. 11 is n side elevation of the saine.

Referring now to the letters of reference placed usplon the drawings: A is a ilexible stri of eet metal, one end of which is initial y secured within the barrel B of the lockingl device by means of wings a cut. from the bo y of the strip and s read aagularly so as to engage the end w l of the barrel after the stri is inserted through the slot. b in the wall o the latter.

C is a rotatable locking disk having a Z shaped slot c, indicated in Fics. 5 and 7, formed therein. The disk C is lodged within the bari-el B aud adjacent to the end Wall b' of the latter. Through the slot r." of the Z-ehaped o )ening and the slot b of the barrel B, the rte end of the strip Agn-Ojeda tlie outwardly bent wings a o the strip serving to secure the other end within the barrel B.

c are hooked ortions formed by cutting away portions 0 the disk C.

c is a radial alot eut in the locking disk C dividing:Y the metal between the Zfshaped slot. and the riphery of the disk, one arm of which is nt. to form a spring dog t." adapted to engage a ratchet or counter stmk portion b tanned in the wall b' of the barrel B. I provide two depressions b 'in the wall of the barrel in order to insure the locking disk C being rotated in the proper d1- rection to lock the seal; it being obvious that the spring dog c* will hold the disk when in its initial position nainst rotation except in the direction in which it should be turned in order to lock the seal.

D is a cup portion, its annular wail at the open end provided with ears d designed to enter notches ca formed in the rotatable locking disk C,-the ears being bent when assembled with the disk to engage the latter making,r it a ractically integral part. of the cui portion.

n order to secure the cup-shaped portion within the barrel B, the edge of the annular wall of the barrel is bent to forni a ilange b overlapping the end wall d of the cup portion D, as shown in Fig. 2, when the latter is inserted in the barrel B. In the end wall d' of the cup D is a kerf di formed by indcnting the wall. This kerf (l2 is desifned to receive the entering end of a key or other suitable instrument employed to rof tate the cup D within the barrel B. As shown in Fig. 3, the flange b of the barrel is cut away on each side, as indicated at; 5*.- the portion cnt away corresponding in width to that of the kerf formed in the cup portion D. The object of cutting the liange away us indicated is to provide for releasing the operating key E which is formed with ears e projectine from the edge of the key beneath the tliinge b3 of the barrel. When in its initial position and before the barrel is rotated, the key occupies the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3; uion rotating the barrel a nai-ter turn, the 'ey occupies the position sliown in dotted lines and the key mai' then be released through the slots b.

t the free end of the strip A is a slot a corresponding in size with the slot a.' at the opposite end of the strip.

a and a* are indentations formed in the strip each being respectively located at an equal distance from the slots a' and a". Upon looping the. strip back upon itself after engaging it with the door fastening;r or other object under seal, the free end is first nshed through the slot b iii the end of the arrel until the indentations u and a register with each other, this indicates that the slots o' and a'-l within tlie barrel register with each other and with the edges of the hooked portions c2 of the lockingr disk in the modifications shown in Figs. t), 10. and ll, the lexihle strip A is formed with a short return bend or hook poi-tion and a right annie bend AH-to limit the further entry olptlie strip within the hiirrel li, as. indicated in Fig. '.i. Struck np from the hooked portion ii nd from the body of the strip und set at au angle to the saine, are wings a u' to lock the end of the at rip willi- 05 in the barrel when inserted therein. The

advantage of this construction over that previously described, is that the strip and locking barrel may be assembled at any time after the cupeand barrel portions of the dcvice have en first. put together. The hooked portion of the strip actingr as a spring provides means whereby when that end of the strip is subsequently forced through the slot in the barrel,-the win fs after passing,r the end wall of the latter, will spring out so as to encounter the wall of the barrel on any attein t being made to withdraw the strip there rom.

Having tliiis indicated the several parts by reference letters, the operation of the device will be readily understood. To )hice the car door, or other object, under sea the free end of the strip A is engaged with the piits to be scaled in the usual manner and nt. back upon itself and its end inserted through the slot b of the bai-rel B and the slot c' of the Z-sliaped opening iii the lockiii disk. 'lhe strip being forced in until the in entations a and a* of the. strip A register, thereby denoting that the slots a and a are in line with each other and with the hooked portion cs of the rotatable disk C. The cup D is now rotated by means of the key E. The disk C being practically an integral part of the cup portion D, upon rotating the latter, the hooked portions o: are caused to enter the slots a' and a' in the strip thereby securing the free end of the stri within the barrel. At thc same time the ooked portions e2 of the disk closes the oiening b through the end of the barrel tieieby protecting it a ainst the entry of any instrument designe to tamper with the locking mechanism. As indicated in Figs. 3 and 5, a quarter revolution of the lot-king disk serves to en rage its hooked portion with the strip an( at this point the sprin'rr dog c* of the disk enters the ratchet de )ression b2 in the end wall Zi' of the barrel, t ien'- hy lookin y the disk C afrainst a reverse rotation shoii d an attempt e inadc to disengagethe strip. Upon the cup portion l) being given a quarter revolution, the key l.w which np to this time has been .supported iii the barrel by means of the (lange b of the barrel orerlalliphig the cars r of the lteyris now hi'oiipf it to the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig'. 3 at which point. the flange portion b is out away :is indicated at b" vl'oi the purpose of releasing the key which is thus automatically disengaged from the barrel. it will now he understood that. the operation' ke having heen ieii'iived. that Ytact wilr indicate to all observersl that thi` seal is locked.

As shown iti Fig. 2, I propose In nunihi-r or otherwise provide the tloxihle strip und the loi-king,r key with corresponding numbers or nini-ks, iii order that thel issuing olllee muy have means for checking the cars -sealed and llb proof,-indicatcd by the return of the key.that the seals corresponding with the numbers on the keys returned have been ac' taally put into commission.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim is tlcxible sealing strip slotted at its ends to receive a rotatable locking member, an outer ease slotted to receive the ends of said strip, a rotatable locking member inclosed within said case slotted for the passage of the ilexible strip and irovided with hooks adapted to enter the s ots in said stri i, means initially supported partially wit iin the outer ease for rotating said locking member, said means adapted to be automatically released from said case upon actuating the locking member to lock the ends of the strip within the case.

'2. In a device of the class described, a tlvxible .sealing strip slotted at its ends to receive a rotatable locking member, an outer rase slotted to receive the ends of said strip, a rotatable locking member inclosed within said case slotted for the passa c of the flexible strip and irovided with ioolts adapted to enter the slots in said strip, and a key adapted to be initially supported partially within said case for rotatin said locking member and to be released ilierefrom only upon a predetermined rotation of the lock ing member.

In a device of the class described. a flexible sealing strip slotted at its ends to receive a rotatable locking member, an outer case slotted to receive the ends of said strip, a rotatable locking member inclosed within said case slotted for the )assage of sa id strip and provided with hooias adapted to enter the slots in said strip, a key ada ted to be initially supported partially within said case, and a cup-shaped ortion secured to the locking member an( provided with n korf adapted to receive the end of said kry, aid outer case adapted to release said key from the kcrf of the cup-shaped portion only upon a predetermined rotation of theloe ing member.

l. .ln a device of the class described, n llt-xilile sealing strip slotted at its ends to receive a rotatable locking,1r member, an outer ease slotted to receive the ends of said stri i, tlurotatable locking member inclosed witbin said euse, slotted for the nissnge of the flexible strip and provided wit i hooks adapted to enti-r the slots in said strip a our `shaped portion secured to the rotatable loc e iupy member its wall formed with a korf designed tn receive a key, and the key adapted to lio supported in said korf to be released therefrom only upon a predetermined rotation nl' tlu` locking member.

5. In u seul, n flexible strip slotted atV each und, n cylindrical caso having an opening in its end wall adapted to receive the ends of the strip, a rotatable locking member inelosed in said euse, said member provided with hooks adapted to enter the slots in said strip whereby said strip may be locked with- 1 in the case, a cup-shaped portion secured to 1. ln a device of the class described, a f

said locking member and provided with a korf to iereive the ends of an operating key and means whereby said operating ke)1 may be initially supported in said case and subsequently released upon the rotation of said locking member.

6. In a seal, a flexible strip slotted at each end, a cylindrical case having an opening in its end wall adapted to receive the ends of the strip, a rotatable locking member inclosed in said case, a cup-shaped portion cured to said rotatable member and rovided with a kei-f to receive the end o an operating key, the open end of said case flanged to secure the end of said rotatable locking member and the operating key. said flange slotted to release said key upon a predetermined rotation o the locking member, said rotatable member slotted for the passage of the ends of said flexible strip, and provided with hooks adapted to enter the openings in the strip to lock the latter within the ease.

7 In a seal, a flexible strip slotted at each end, a clylindrical case having a slot in its end wal adapted to receive t strip, a rotatable locking member inclosed in said case, the open end of said ease Ranged to secure the rotatable locking member within the same, a. cup-shaped portion secured to the rotatable member and provided with a korf to receive the end of an operating key, said rotatable member slotted for the tissage of the ends of said strip, the key, an means whereby the key is held in position within the outer case until the member is rot-ated as predetermined.

8. In a seal, a. flexible strip provided at one end with angnlarly set wings struck up from its bod-y portion, an inelosmg case slotted for the passage of said strip within which the winged )ortion of the strip is housed, said stri) a'lso provided with slots at each of its en s through which a locking member is designed to pass, a rotatable locking;` member inclosed within said case slotted for the passage of said strip nml provided with hooks adapted to pass through the openin s in said strip, a cup-shaped portion secure to said member adapted to receive an operating key, the key, incansfor sccn ring the key in operating relation with said clip-shaped portion prior to the. operation of said member, means whereby said key is automatically released upon the operation of said locking member, and means for securing said locking member against a reverso movement of the latter when once operated, substantially as described.

e ends of the 9. In a device of the class described, a flexible scaling strip slotted at its ends to receive a rotatable locking member, an outer case slotted tn receive the ends of said strip, a rotatable looking member inclosed within said case slotted for the passage of the flexible strip and provided with hooks adapted to enter the slots in said strip a cupsbaped portion secured to the locking member and adapted to receive an operatingkey, the operating key, means for sup ortmg said key within the case prior to tie operation of said locking member, means for releasing said key upon the operation of the latter, said locking member also provided with a spring dog adapted to engage a ratchet depression formed in the outer case whereby upon operating said locking member it is secured against a reverse rotation, substantially as described.

10. In a seal, a flexible stri a cylindrical outer case ada ited to be initially engaged with one cud ofl said strip, a cup-shaped poi'- tioii inclosed within the outer case provided with a kerl formed in its end wall designed to receive the end of an operating key, the key, said outer case flanged over the cupshaped portion to secure the same and the operating key within the case, said flanged portion slotted to release the key upon a predetermined rotation of the ci1psiia ed vportion, a locking disk secured to the en of the cu -sbapcd portion slotted for the passage nl) the strip and formed with hooks d esigned to pass through the openings in said strip to lock the saine within the case, said locking disk also rovided with a spring dog integral tberewit desi ratchet depression in tic outer case. said flexible strip provided with singularly set wings spread so as to encounter said oeking disk within the case, and a suitable indentation formed in each end of the strip at a like distance from the slots serving to register said slots with each other within the case, substantially as described.

1l. In a seal, a cylindrical case slotted for thc passage of a flexible strip, a locking lllelll be actuated bv an operating key, means to support. said key within the case until .said

locking member is given a prifdctermined rotation, means for releasing the key upon said locking member being given said predetermined rotation, a flexible stri i slotted at cach end for the passage of sai( lockino` member, one end of said strip provided wit i a return bend and having spreading wings adapted to engage the wall of said locking member to secure the end of the stri within the case, substantially as described).

ed to engage'a er inclosed within said case adapted to 1.2. In a seal, n cylindrical case slotted for tbc )tissage of a flexible strip, a locking mem er inclosed within said case adapted to be actuated b an operating key, means to support said icy within the case until said locking member is given a predetermined rotation, means for releasing the key when said locking member is rotated as predetermined, and a flexible strip slotted at. eacli end for the passage of said loc-kin member, one end of said strip provided wit a return bend and having spreading wings adapted to engage the uall of said locking member to secure the end of the strip within the case, said strip also i'ovided with ii right angle bend to limit tie distance entered by tlie strip within the case, substantially as described.

13. ln a device of the class described, a flexible sealing strip slotted at its ends to receive a rotatable locking member, a cylindrical case slotted for tlic passage o the flexible strip, a rotatable locking member inclosed within said case, slotted for the passage of the flexible stri and adapted to be actuated by the end olf-) an operating key, means for supporting said operating key within the case, means for releasing the key upon operating the locking member, and a corres )ending identifying mark attached to both t e flexible strip and to the operating key, substantially as described.

14. ln a device of the class described, a flexible sealing strip slotted at its ends to receive a rotatable locking member, an outer case slotted to receive the ends of said strip and provided with a ratchet depression, the rotatable lockiii member rovided with a Z-slia ed slot a apted for t e passage of the tlexib e strip and to form hooks designed to enter the slotted openings through said strips, said wall also provided with a sprin dog integral therewith designed to enter sai depression in the outer case, a cup-shaped portion secured to tlie rotatable locking member having a kerf designed to receive the end of an operating key, said outer case flanged to secure the locking ineinbei and its coniiicting cup-shaped portion Within the saine. .said flanged portion notched to release the operating key, and the operating key provided with projecting cars designed to initially underlie the flanged portion, substantial ly as described.

lu testimony wlieieof I sign this specification in the presence ofz two witnesses.

ANTHONY lV. LOSl-IBOUUH.

W it nesses (limon E. Wi'mtoor, SAMUEL E. Timmie. 

